Fedora Mathieu (born in Port Prince, living in Quebec since 2005) has won the René-Lupien Prize, awarded annually for the best master’s thesis on a subject of special interest to the Canadian francophone community. The thesis, which must be written in French, can be on a topic in science or the humanities.

Ms. Mathieu’s thesis The Realization of Housing Rights by Humanitarian Non-State Actors in the Post-Disaster Context: The Haitian Case, analyzes the appropriateness of imposing legal obligations for social and economic issues on Humanitarian Non-State Actors (HNSA), and looks at the Haitian situation following the 2010 earthquake as a case study. The thesis is based on an analysis of the international legal framework that applied in Haiti following the earthquake, and an empirical study conducted in the field with residents from three refugee camps and staff members from HNSA. Her research received financial support from the prestigious Gordon F. Henderson Human Rights Scholarship.

According to one of the evaluation reports, Ms. Mathieu’s thesis shows an “excellent understanding of the issues, the situation, and problems related to the lack of a legal framework for HNSA activities.” Her strong writing skills also stand out, which led one of her evaluators to comment, “I have rarely read a master’s thesis so well written. The methodology is rigorous, the paper is well structured and the organization of ideas is excellent.

Fedora Mathieu is :

Recipient of the Medal of the Bar of Paris as best student of the programs of graduate studies in law from the University of Ottawa 2013-2014;

Recipient of the Gordon F. Henderson Scholarship in human right 2012. Centre for Research and Teaching on Human Rights. University of Ottawa;

Winner in the category "Arts, literature and culture" Edition 2011. Contest Forces Avenir;

Scholar of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) 2010;

Scholar of the Quebec-America Office for Youth (OQAJ) 2009;

HL/ HaitiLibre